Why does the central warning light come on?

From what you guys are saying it sounds like the warning light comes on when a bulb burns out? is this right.
also is that a external bulb or a dash bulb or both?

Not quite Brad, at least not myself.

The warning lights in the speedo/ tach cluster are individual bulbs for their respective circuits. They are illuminated from their sensors switching to alarm state which in turn should also illuminate the central warning lamp. This may seem redundant but the german engineers figured the coomon driver needed a good birght red light warning in serval locations to ensure we got the message.

My premis is that one or more of the cluster bulbs no longer function but the circuit is still functioning and the central warnming lamp remains functional giving a warning something aint right but cant tell you what.

Hope that helps.

Thanks Malcolm I wanted the thread to be clear.

Brad, if a tail light (or a side marker light) are either burned out OR just have a greater resistance than they should or than the other bulbs it will set of the tail light or brake light warning... So, yes if an outside tail light light or side marker is burned out or other wise imbalanced from the rest you will see the big "!" light up as well as the small light within the speedo/tach area telling you if it is a "tail light" or a "break light" that is burned out...

Well guess what? Only 11 years later - it is happening to me! Mine only comes on after the engine is at temp and only under 1000 RPM. Will be checking the oil level tomorrow, and then go from there!

Oil was a little low but not much, so I topped it off. I still get the flashing Exclamation point, but only AFTER the engine is warm and when it reaches 1000 rpm or below. Normal driving around (not idling, the light immediately goes out. Will check for lights not showing up when the key is turned. I did get the car painted and had issues with the rear taillights, that went away after some cleaning. Of course I need to know what it really is since it could be electrical or oil sender maybe ?